And just like that... all your emails fall into the "promotions" box. That's right... the promotion box. The same box that will soon land all your email blast, your special offers, and anything else sales related that you wanted to get across to your customers. Google just said - "ACCESS DENIED" Now what? I can your dealer principle now... "OH NO! Its Friday and I want to do an "eblast" to over 30k customers to let them know that we have 0% and we have leases starting at $99 a month. Our customers and prospects need to know this!!"WRONG...They know we sell cars. They know we move metal. They know all of the above. They know the programs just we do, they know the interest rates before they walk into the dealership... They are well armed.The game has changed again. Anything with any kind of "promotion" content will not reach your "primary" inbox. So what now??SEND SOMETHING DIFFERENT. Like JD Rucker talks about his "content burger" send people something that they want to see. The most successful email that we ever sent out was a blooper reel. People loved it. They emailed us back "WOW, that was great. By the way, i still didn't get the Altima, can you shoot me a quote on a 24 month lease?" Marilyn Monroe once said "If you can make a women laugh, you can make her do anything." The same thing applies to our customers. Right now our customers are defended by their gmail shield. Best Buy just emailed me and IF i clicked on the dreaded "promotions" box... That is the only way I would view their offer. Break the Game open and get away from sales. Make your customers laugh, email them about an event you are having or a charity you are working with. Remember, they contacted you in order to get this "email blast." They know the deal... Share any and all thoughts, I would love to hear it. See More

Many of us know of heard of "patch.com." Patch.com is a local news and information platform owned by the AOL corporation. As of June 2013, Patch operates some 900 local and hyperlocal news websites in 23 states in the United States. Patch Media Corporation is the operator of the service.Patch was founded by Tim Armstrong, Warren Webster and Jon Brod in 2007 after Armstrong said he found a dearth of online information on his hometown of Riverside, Connecticut. The company was then acquired by AOL in 2009 shortly after Armstrong became AOL's CEO. Armstrong told AOL staffers that he recused himself from negotiations to acquire the company and did not directly profit from his seed investment. He instead asked that his seed money be returned to him in the form of AOL stock when it split from Time Warner.The power of patch.com is how they are able to index at such a high rate. Google LOVES patch.com. Recently, patch.com has added a great tool to its website. A FREE blog. A blog where you are free to write, speak, or announce an article you choose. And it is even featured on the front page of patch.com in the city or town in which you choose to write in.How does this work with your business?With the each day, patch.com is growing more and more. With its ability to index at such a high rate, it is showing traits of large social sites like Facebook, Pinterest, ect. Stories are getting picked up immediately, and it is hitting such a critical market: YOUR COMMUNITY.Your own community. Patch.com allows you to publish anything you want to your neighbors. Wether it is a thought, promotion, sales event, ect, your own community will be in constant contact with what is going on.Conquest. Because there are a number of cities and towns available, patch.com will also allow your blog to go public on your competitors cities and towns. WOW! How cool is that!? If you are a BMW dealer in New Jersey, one could post in all your competitors cities anything!! Weather it's a dealership promotion or your current advertisement, it doesn't matter.Patch.com allows you to stay in contact with the people who matter, your community. Direct hits at all time! I strongly suggest you create an account and post strong content on this platform. Engage with your community and leverage everything you can. You will not be disappointed.See More